A Human Body Communication (HBC) technology, also referred to as Intra-body communication and Body Coupled communication, may be used for Body Area Networks (BANs).
The HBC technology may enable an HBC communication of a communication signal to be coupled directly onto a human body via a transmitter on the human body, and to be received by a receiver on the human body.
The transmitter and/or the receiver may be in touch with the skin of the human body, or may be in a close proximity to the skin to perform the HBC communication.
The HBC communication may enable communication without interference on the human body. For example, a first transmission on a body of a first user may not interfere with a second transmission on a body of a second user, e.g., even if the first and second users are within the same room.
A wearable device may be configured to support the HBC communication via the human body. The HBC communication between wearable devices may be possible only if the wearable devices are on the body of the user, for example, directly touching the skin of the user, or in a close proximity to the body, e.g., in a pocket of the user.
The wearable devices may include, for example, bands, glasses, clothing, shoes, watches, and the like, which are directly touching the skin; and/or Smartphones, GPS devices, tags, PDA devices, and the like, which are carried by the user, e.g., in the pocket of cloths worn by the user.
The HBC technology may use various coupling methods to couple the communication signal onto the human body. A first coupling method may include a Galvanic coupling, which requires that two electrodes at the receiver, and two electrodes at the transmitter are in touch with the skin of the body. A second coupling method may include a capacitive coupling, in which electrodes of the receiver and electrodes of the transmitter may be in close proximity to the skin.
As the HBC technology becomes popular and widespread, users may wear multiple wearable devices on various parts of their bodies. For example, a user may wear and/or carry a Smartphone, a watch, a heart rate monitor, smart clothes, and/or smart glasses, for example, at the same time.